The Sixteen Galaxies

by William Drayman

  Nuthros bowed his head. “Just like you, Kestil. You would have made a fine council member, in time. But you wanted superiority, not equality.”

  “That is because I wasn’t equal, I was better!” Kestil turned away in disgust. “You fool, Nuthros. How could you be so blind? Just like the rest of the council.” He spun back around and jabbed a finger at his brother’s chest. “I don’t think you failed to see my talent, not at all. I think you feared it. That’s why my appointment to the council was kept from me. Others could see I was different. Others could see my true potential. And I could sense my destiny.”

  “Destiny is a concept with no foundation, Kestil, you know that. It is tied to a few undeveloped planet’s ancient mythologies, and has no-”

  “Enough!” Kestil reached behind him and pulled out a small device. “We can talk about this on my ship.” He pointed the device and a net of fine laser light encased Nuthros. The net tightened until Nuthros was rendered immobile.

  Kestil smiled. “Bet you didn’t see that one coming. No transfer for you, brother. The only escape route is gone.”

  Nuthros found it hard to talk in the tight constraints of the laser web. “Already you’re hurting people, Kestil. You even tried to kill one.”

  “Ah, yes. The boy. Bet you didn’t think I’d find him so quickly. Very convenient of him to put that virus out, I couldn’t believe my luck. I should have known you’d be watching him.”

  “How…how did you…know?”

  Kestil laughed. “I have been around for a good while, Nuthros. I saw your moment of weakness in all its pathetic glory. I expected no less from you, to be honest. I must thank you for such leverage.”

  The web tightened. “Well, you’re…you’re out of luck now. He’s…safely on my ship. You’ll never…never find it.”

  Kestil’s smile widened. “Oh, I’ll find it, brother. In fact, I think it’ll find me; once Truly tries to find you.”

  Kestil’s smile vanished almost as quickly as Nuthros did.

  Kestil put the device away and shook his head. “Sneaky dog. Solidified light hologram. So they finally got it to work. Touché brother; I didn’t see that one coming, either.”

  *****

  President Wilson Dexter strode to the podium, a confident smile on his face. He didn’t feel that way at all, not after the days of endless debate he’d endured. The back room deals had been ground out, with concessions given and taken. He finally had the green light to take the next step to make global reform happen. He readied his notes and looked up at the cameras. There was a sharp sound right beside him and he turned with an expectant smile on his face. The smile evaporated when he saw a man right next to him in faded army fatigues, aiming a pistol at his head. President Wilson Dexter died while the secret service agents reached for their sidearms. The assassin disappeared before Dexter’s body even dropped to the floor.

  *****

  Five very confused people stood in a small group on the viewport deck of Nuthros’ ship. David Markham and Christine Joyce were already there, of course. The sudden appearance of the other three had given them quite a shock as they stood in front of the view of Earth together. Jack Short and Mandy Somers were tracking down a lead on some evidence in Oklahoma, while Hiram was in the middle of a meeting in Japan. They all looked at one another.

  “I don’t suppose,” Hiram said, “Anyone else knows why we’re all here?”

  “I do.” Truly replied.

  “Would you mind sharing?” Christine asked.

  “Nuthros will be here shortly, but I can tell you that President Wilson Dexter was just assassinated by John Crabtree. Kestil used a transporter to transfer Crabtree into a press conference and back out again.”

  Christine put a hand to her mouth. “Dear God, that’s awful.”

  “It’s more than awful,” Jack Short said. “It’s a game changer.”

  Christine put her hands on her hips. “This is not a damned game.”

  “Indeed it is not, Chris,” Nuthros said. “However, Jack is right; this changes everything.” He joined them at the viewport. After he had introduced them all to one another, Nuthros brought them up to date with what he knew.

  “So,” Hiram said. “Kestil used a portal to kill the president, in a bid to undermine your attempts to help us out. Cold blooded he may be, but your brother is no fool. Most people will assume you disagreed with the president and you subsequently had him killed.”

  “Indeed,” Nuthros responded. “The president was about to announce the establishment of a preliminary agreement with the Sixteen Galaxies. Kestil was obviously aware of that. So he had the president killed at precisely the right time. Very few people know of Kestil’s existence. The authorities will assume it was me. He has now made my position on Earth untenable. He has also made Earth a very dangerous place for all of you. I am truly sorry that I failed to foresee any of this; you have every right to be angry with me.”

  Hiram looked around at the others. David Markham’s girlfriend looked angry, but she struck him as the angry type. “I can’t speak for the others, Nuthros,” he said, “But I can’t see how you could have anticipated any of this.”

  “Well we’re pretty screwed as far as promoting your efforts goes.” Jack Short shrugged. “Mandy and I are press, though, so everybody hates us anyway. Trouble is, I can’t see how we’re of any use to you now, Nuthros. Hell, we never even got started, really.”

  “On the contrary, Jack, if it wasn’t for Mandy and yourself, I would likely be unaware of Kestil’s existence even now.”

  “So, I’ll ask the question on everyone’s mind,” Hiram said. “What now?”

  “I shall have to consult the council at once,” Nuthros replied. “I must be honest with all of you; right now, I don’t know what to do.”

  *****

  Michael Maitland was livid. He paced up and down behind his desk. His mind whirled in confusion. True to his word, Kestil appeared in the office within minutes of Maitland’s call.

  Maitland rounded on the alien. “Are you completely insane?! You told me Dexter would be out of office if he went ahead with this Nuthros guy. You didn’t say he’d go out feet first!”

  Kestil held up a hand. “Please, Michael, calm yourself. I didn’t have a hand in the president’s murder.”

  Maitland shook a finger at Kestil. “Don’t you try and tell me that was the other guy; don’t you freaking dare!”

  “No,” Kestil sighed, “It wasn’t Nuthros. It was one of my associates. A fellow by the name of Crabtree. Not very bright, obviously. But, he had access to the right people to aid my cause. He has proven useful in several ways, so I granted him a limited measure of responsibility. Not limited enough, clearly. He has disappeared since the assassination.”

  Maitland threw his arms in the air. “Well, that’s just great, isn’t it? Now we’ve got some nut job who can zip in and out of wherever he pleases, and shoot people left and right. How the hell did he get to do your zap-in zap-out trick, anyway?”

  Kestil shrugged. “I gave him very restricted access to my portal generator to help co-ordinate some people for me. I failed to foresee that he would go rogue on me. He has no further ability to portal.”

  Maitland flopped into his chair, and waved Kestil to a seat on the other side of his desk. “So, what the hell do we do now?”

  “I think,” Kestil replied, “We make the best of a bad situation, and get you into the presidency.”

  *****

  Donald Vincent took the phone from Morris’ outstretched hand. “Kevin, how are you today?”

  “Hello, Donald. I take it you’ve seen the market?”

  “Of course, my friend, of course.”

  “Donald, I wanted to check whether you want to sell your gold stocks now or not. The price of gold has shot up since the president’s assassination. Your investment has increased in value at an impressive rate.”

  Donald smiled to himself. “I appreciate your concern, Kevin. However, my plans for that gold do no
t include its sale, nor am I concerned about its price. All will become clear in due course. However, I thank you for your diligence.”

  “Very well. I also wanted to ask why you have insisted on having the bullion stored personally. Why on Earth would you want to risk actual possession of over 31 billion dollars in bullion? I would be derelict in my obligation to you not to strenuously advise that paper possession is by far the most secure method in this instance. The risk otherwise is horrendous.”

  “Kevin,” Donald said, “I took my empire from nothing to what it is today, by taking risks. Some of those risks would have made you soil yourself, I have little doubt. By the time I engaged you as my financial controller, I had stopped such activities, by and large. This new venture is more like the old days. At the moment, we just need to wait. But, trust me, the payoff will be well worth the time.”

  “Okay, Donald. I guess this is a bit out of my usual realm of experience. I apologize if I am being too forward.”

  “Not a problem, Kevin, not a problem. You take care, now.”

  Donald hung up the phone and smiled. Poor old Kevin, he thought. Just another week or so, and he’s not going to believe his eyes.

  *****

  David picked up his mobile phone. “Hi Dad.”

  “David, are you okay? Your mom is scared out of her wits here.”

  “I’m fine, Dad, really.”

  “Can you tell me why the hell Nuthros assassinated the president?”

  “He didn’t, Dad. Kestil did. He’s the alien that tried to kill me. It was Kestil that killed President Dexter. Dexter was to make a speech that started the US down the road toward integration with the Sixteen Galaxies. Now Kestil has made Nuthros public enemy number one. It’s really bad news, Dad.”

  “Well, I’m afraid I’ve got some more, son. Your Mom saw the assassination on TV and called the police, to tell them you were on Nuthros’ ship.”

  David squeezed his eyes shut. “You’re not serious.”

  “I’m afraid I am, son. We had federal agents arrive about ten minutes ago. They asked me to call you. I’ll put one of them on now, his name is Agent Baxter.”

  A new voice came on the line. “Mr Markham, this is Agent Ronald Baxter. Can you confirm your parent’s story that you really are on the ship of this alien Nuthros?”

  “I can, and I am, Mr Baxter.”

  “You realize the seriousness of your position, Mr Markham? We cannot guarantee your safety while you’re on that ship.”

  “I can assure you, Mr Baxter, I am far safer up here than down on Earth. I recently found that out the hard way. I know that Nuthros played no part in the president’s assassination, and you will see that for yourself soon enough.”

  “Well, Nuthros will do himself no good if he hides away up there. If he surrenders himself, we can guarantee him a safe and fair trial.”

  David laughed at that. “Mr Baxter, you can’t guarantee anything. The only safe place for any of us right now is on this ship. The alien you should look for is called Kestil, but I would advise against that, as you wouldn’t enjoy it if you found him.”

  “Mr Markham, I swore an oath when I took this job, and I intend to keep it. I am duty bound to do everything humanly possible to bring the president’s killers to justice.”

  “In that case, Mr Baxter,” David replied, “You shouldn’t try. There is nothing a human can possibly do.”

  *****

  Darryl Masters pushed his hand into Mandy Somers’ stomach.

  Mandy gave an exasperated sigh. “Can you stop that, Darryl? It really gets on my nerves.”

  Darryl leaned back with a sheepish grin on his face. “Sorry, but you look so solid. I keep thinking you’re really here. Will you appear okay on camera like that? I mean, your clothes won’t disappear, will they?”

  “You’re lucky I’m not solid, or you’d get a slap in the face.”

  “Hey,” Darryl objected, “I’m just worried about my classification, that’s all.”

  “Can we get back on topic, please?” Jack Short asked.

  “Yeah, sorry.” Darryl folded his arms. “So, let me get this straight. You say Nuthros didn’t have the president assassinated, and there’s another alien around. The one you couldn’t show me on the clip from the general assembly.”

  Mandy shrugged. “That’s about it.”

  “And,” Darryl continued, “You will only appear down here as a hollow thingy?”

  “It’s called a hologram, and yes, that’s right. Because Nuthros says it’s not safe. This Kestil guy has already tried to kill two young people who are up here with us now, and he helped that Crabtree guy to kill the president.”

  “Why don’t you just send me the transmission from up there? I’m sure Nuthros has the gadgets to do that.”

  “I’m sure he does, too. But, if we do that, people will argue that I’m his prisoner and I’m under duress. No one will know it’s not me when I am down there for the show. Nuthros will send me down as a solidified light hologram. It makes me able to touch and feel things, apparently.”

  Darryl rubbed his chin. “I don’t know, Mandy. Your alien friend is public enemy number one right now, and you want me to give you a prime-time slot to try to convince people he didn’t do it?”

  “Come off it, Darryl,” Jack interjected. “You know as well as I do that the show will go through the roof, right or wrong. Everyone will want to see it, and nobody will know Mandy’s a hologram. We have to try to get back on track. This is about the future of the world; it’s not a popularity contest.”

  “Alright, alright.” Darryl put his hands up in mock surrender. “8.30pm slot, half an hour, two days from now. How’s that?”

  Mandy nodded. “Fine. I’ll be here at 8.25pm. See you then.”

  “Okay,” Darryl replied. “Just make sure you-” He scowled at the spot where Mandy had just disappeared. “Wish I could get the wife to do that,” he grumbled to himself.

  *****

  “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.”

  Michael Maitland strode up to the dais and nodded to the press. “My fellow Americans. It was with a heavy heart that I swore the oath to accept the office of president this morning. Our country has lost a great man. A visionary leader, a fine statesman, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a wonderful friend. Today I swear to you; this murder will not go unpunished. The man who assassinated President Dexter might have alien technology, but that will not save him. I say to him, no matter where you run, no matter where you hide, we will find you. And you will pay for your crimes.”

  He took a look around the room. “I will also assure you, ladies and gentlemen, no stone will remain unturned until this monster is found and brought to justice. But, this heinous crime begs the question; who aided and abetted this man? Who provided him access to whatever transport technology was used to carry out this crime? Well, there can only be one logical answer to that question.”

  Maitland raised a finger in remonstration. “I hereby declare the alien Nuthros persona non-grata within the boundaries of the United States. I also withdraw the office of US ambassador to the Sixteen Galaxies society of worlds.”

  The press gathered in front of Maitland muttered and whispered. He held up a hand. “Ladies and gentlemen, please. The Sixteen Galaxies representative Nuthros assured President Dexter that they were a non-violent and peaceful society. It would seem that was a lie. If his claim was true, then I would ask that Nuthros explain his actions, if he can, and justify the murder of one of Earth’s greatest leaders.”

  Maitland waited for the audience to fall silent. “I would like to point out that this event has not changed the fact that we need to save planet Earth from imminent catastrophe. To that end, I call upon the scientific and industrial communities of the world to pool their resources, and come up with suitable clean energy solutions as quickly as possible. We may not have access to the technologies of the Sixteen Galaxies any longer, but we can still show these people that humanity
is not a lost cause. We can show them just how inventive we can be, when we put our minds to it. Thank you.”

  9

  Hiram followed Nuthros through a doorway into bright sunlight. He waited for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he gazed around him in wonder.

  Nuthros threw his arms wide. “Welcome to Kareetha, Hiram.”

  Hiram shook his head. “It’s beautiful, Nuthros; just beautiful.” Indeed it was. Massive trees with jet-black bark towered above them, their tops lost in the sun’s haze at an impossible height. Their orange and red foliage was home to creatures of dazzling beauty. Hiram spotted a four-winged bird, similar to a hummingbird but at least five times the size, hovering while it sucked nectar from purple bell shaped flowers. Its feathers were iridescent blue, green and pink. Ape-like creatures with large, bulbous eyes and covered in blue hair, swung from the huge branches and called to one another with a trilling tone. Spiral-winged insects spun and danced like butterflies. They twisted clockwise to rise higher, and anti-clockwise to descend. To travel horizontally, they zig-zagged up and down, leaning first one way and then the other to navigate. They floated around the two men in a spectacular rainbow of metallic and mother-of-pearl colours.

  There were majestic peaks in the distance, any one of which would dwarf Mt Everest. Closer to them stood a shorter peak, but still a mountain, with a white building perched atop it. Given the distance, the building was huge. Water cascaded from under the building and down three sides of the mountain in spectacular falls before it crashed into a lake that surrounded the mountain’s base. Sailboats with flat, multi-hulls and odd, round panels instead of sails skimmed across the water in all directions. They moved at incredible speeds. Their pace belied the fact that Hiram felt only a mild breeze. But it was the feel of the place that struck Hiram the most. Everything looked pristine and crisp. He took a deep breath of the clean air, pure and refreshing.